


One More Chance

by Estirose



Category: Power Rangers Time Force
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-21 22:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/905817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trip wants Jen to give Wes one more chance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One More Chance

"Come on, Trip." Jen was ordering him away from Wes. Taking one look at their sometime Red Ranger, Trip made his way towards the furious Jen and the rest of his Time Force teammates. It was obvious that nothing could be done at the moment, not under Jen's watchful eye. His team leader was obviously convinced of her own conclusions and would not listen to reason.

He climbed into the back seat of the car that Jen and Lucas had 'acquired' for them, again marvelling at Lucas' ability to drive just about anything. Mindful of all the dangers of the twenty-first century, he put on the safety restraints. Lucas drove off, leaving Trip to his thoughts.

Why won't she listen? he thought. But then again, he knew why. Poor Wes. So much like Alex and so much unlike him. He let his shields down a little. Jen was mentally replaying those times Wes' life had intersected hers, mixed in with memories of Alex. No wonder Wes didn't have a chance! He had a feeling, the kind of feeling that he knew he could trust, that Wes could contribute much to the team, if given half a chance.Besides, where else were they to find someone so genetically similar to Alex?

Before he knew it, the trip was over. They were at the beach again, letting Jen brood as they worked to salvage more out of the wreckage of the time ship. "Something's bothering you," Katie observed, as she tugged a piece of wreckage out of his way. "Wes?"

Trip nodded. "Jen is so convinced that he's of no use to the team."

"I know. But you've got to realize that it's Jen's choice to leave him off. She's got to be able to work with him as well."

"I know," Trip offered back. "I just have this feeling...."

Katie placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you do. And I think she'll come around in time. It's just after the events today, she's a little upset."

He nodded. "I know. I think... I think that I want to be alone for a while."

"I'll give you all the space that you need," Katie told him, moving away. "And I'll make sure the others do as well."

She moved away, and Trip felt a pang of regret. He and Katie were close; they seemed to understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. Katie probably assumed that Trip wanted to be alone because there were too many non-telepaths around him and he was upset. His people felt strongly, were connected to each other in ways that most non-telepaths could not understand. It gave them a mental strength where they lacked in the physical. Circuit floated down beside him, and a plan formed in his head. "Circuit, do you know how to operate a twenty-first century car?"

* * *

It was only Trip's knack for mechanical and electrical things which got him into the Collins estate. Fortunately, Jen hadn't bothered to take Wes' address and the marked map out of the vehicle, not that the estate was that hard to find. He circled around the main building, worried that he might be discovered by one of the staff. He was sure that he didn't look like a typical twenty-first century human.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Wes appeared on one of the balconies. "Psst. Wes! Come on!" Trip hissed, hoping to get his teammate's attention. The other man looked down, seeing him, and nodding. He quickly disappeared and then was flinging himself down to the first floor, mere meters away from Trip's hiding place.

"What are you doing here?" Wes asked as he came down the stairs.

"I need to talk to you, to explain...." Trip started to say, but he was cut off by his teammate.

"No, no. Jen made it pretty clear. She thinks I'm nothing but a spoiled brat." As Wes talked, he turned away, heading towards the small pool. "I don't know, maybe she's right."

As Wes sat down on a piece of furniture, Trip kneeled by him, smiling. Wes wanted to ignore him, to wallow around in shame, but there were more important things to do. "She isn't right. I have ways of knowing. I'm from the planet Xybria," Trip told him, realizing as Wes' head raised that people from his teammate's time didn't have experience with people from other planets. He continued. "Our gems give us special visions. Here, I want you to see something."

He brought his morpher up. A lot of things had been flooding into his mind since the morpher had locked on his DNA; even now, he was amazed by some of the stuff he could do. He concentrated on the morpher, willing the picture to come through. As the spark coalesced into an image of Alex and Jen, Wes exclaimed, "Hey, that's me!"

Trip shook his head at his teammate's disbelief. "No, that's Alex." He willed Wes to understand the entirety of the situation. "He and Jen... they were going to get married. That was before he tried to stop Ransik from escaping to the past. Ransik struck him down without mercy. And Alex... was gone."

A light shone in Wes' eyes as he finally understood what Trip was getting at. "So that's why Jen..." Trip paused as footsteps came from above, footsteps that Wes apparently didn't hear, and went for cover. "It's all beginning to make sense," Wes continued to muse.

"Wesley! Wesley!"

A man was calling for Wes. Trip scampered away, content that he'd convinced Wes to make another try, one with the information he'd need to get through to Jen. Now to get back before the rest of the team noticed that he was missing.

He was nearly around the estate back to his entrance point when his backpack stuck on something and he turned around. Wes was right behind him, and was the one who'd snagged it. "I need to talk to Jen," he said simply, and Trip found himself nodding.

"This way. Can you drive?"

* * *

Trip kneeled behind some of the wreckage as he watched Jen, who apparently had found the need to be alone herself. The team, thank goodness, seemed to have not noticed his total disappearance and he pretended to get back to work. He'd advised Wes of the best way to circle around and find Jen without Lucas or Katie noticing him first.

"Jen," Wes called to their team leader.

Jen looked up at the newcomer with a stony expression. "What do you want?" she asked, clearly not pleased to see Wes again.

"You were right," he said. "All my life, I haven't had to fight for anything. Now I have something to fight for." He paused for a second, clearly thinking of what to say next, as Trip silently cheered him on. "I know about Alex."

Jen's startlement was plain for anybody to see and Trip wondered if Lucas or Katie had looked to see the cause of the disturbance. She looked directly at him and Trip knew that she'd be having words with him afterwards. Well, she hadn't said anything about not talking to Wes, had she? And Wes needed to know what was going on if he was to operate as a team member.

"Unless we stop Ransik, neither of us will have a future," Wes continued. "Please, let me help you."

It seemed like forever as Trip held his breath, waiting to see if Wes' words had any effect. Then Circuit spoke up. "Rangers! We got trouble!"

Trip looked over at the projected display. "Circuit's picking up signs of mutant DNA at the harbor!"

Looking up, he saw Jen nod, not bothering to give Wes an answer, and sweep up the beach. Trip fell in line with her and the others, knowing that he and Wes had made Jen think. He'd get an answer sooner or later.

A few feet up, Jen suddenly stopped as if she'd forgotten something, turning to look at their errant teammate. Brushing past Katie and Lucas, she got something out of her pocket. "One more chance," she told Wes, before tossing his morpher back to him.

Their teammate grinned as he slapped the morpher onto his arm, and Trip knew that he'd done what he'd set out to do. "Ready?" Jen asked, and he got in the correct position to morph. "Time for Time Force!"

As he exclaimed the words with his teammates, Trip grinned inwardly. His team was together, and all was right with the world.

-end


End file.
